


Carbon and Bluebird

by morphogenesis



Series: Daffodil Verse [2]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Background Phi/Alice, Background Seven/Lotus, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:54:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26017621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphogenesis/pseuds/morphogenesis
Summary: Sequel toDaffodil Like Yourself.Ten months after the catastrophe in Baltimore, the newly-formed Bluebird organization struggles to save the missing players of the First Nonary Game, find Alice, and keep themselves together.
Relationships: Clover Field & Kurashiki Akane | June, Kurashiki Akane/Tenmyouji Junpei, Light Field/Kurashiki Aoi
Series: Daffodil Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1889068
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Read ["Daffodil Like Yourself"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14838632/chapters/34345121) before reading this. Here it is, a sequel I was excited to write because I was so curious about where I left everyone at the end of "Daffodil." Warnings and character tags may shift over time.
> 
> eta 8/25/20: I combined Chapters 1 and 2 into one long chapter because I realized it worked better that way.
> 
> ETA 2/16/21: This has been discontinued.

Aoi woke up around 3am. No reason, he jerked awake and by the time he opened his eyes his body decided it was effective immediately. He wasn’t getting any rest. Considering he went to bed around midnight this was irritating, and as his bed partner was still dead asleep, even worse. Light snored, no matter how much he denied it, and he lay on his side facing the wall, the outline of one shoulder visible under the blanket. Aoi woke up with the fabric of Light’s t-shirt soft on his skin because Light had scooted closer to him in sleep, as if sensing more heat to suck up like the cold vampire he was.

Aoi got out of bed without displacing it much to keep the other asleep, pulling his hastily discarded shirt off the floor and putting it back on, and went to the bathroom. Taking a piss did not clear his mind any nor help the neuropathy he suspected was keeping him up, so he stumbled out to the kitchen to get a glass of water and reluctantly start the day. He idly scratched the back of his neck, where only a scar remained where the esper-cancelling implant had once been. It was gone but his morphogenetic ability still wasn’t functioning and nobody could explain why, so he had to live without it.

He found the miso he’d prepared last night and started boiling water, knowing by the time the next members of the household woke up around five everyone would be hungry and complaints plentiful if he wasn’t ready. Clover was most forthcoming with those but she also ate the most and loved it if her recent weight gain was any indicator.

The Fields, despite their huffing, were in no hurry to move out and away from free food and, in their own way, companionship, so everyone (comprising of the Fields, the Kurashikis, and Junpei) were all confined to three bedrooms, which left him and the eldest Field sharing with plenty of roommate drama but little actual complaint. Akane hadn’t wanted to cuddle in years so even though the partner was bony and freezing, it was nice having someone else in the bed.

Just the sound of rinsing rice was enough to bring Clover out of her room, and she sat at the counter blinking at him with sleepy eyes until he sighed and poured her a bowl of soup, muttering, “Then go back to bed.” 

Instead of that, she returned to the Go board in the living room that she and Akane left on the floor; they were attempting to learn and competing against each other did wonders for their efforts. Clover studied the board in its current state as if pondering her next move. When Junpei emerged next and jokingly reached for a piece, she slapped his hand away. The game brought a stillness to Clover Aoi didn’t know she could have; he hoped it brought her some kind of peace, the kind she took solace in like her brother when they’d quietly curl up together in Aoi’s bedroom and kick Aoi out.

Junpei plodded into the kitchen, served himself a bowl of rice and poured soup over it, added his favorite salty and savory toppings, and then returned to Clover. They mumbled sleepily about a drama they were watching together. Aoi resigned himself to being a cook and finished preparing breakfast in time for the last two to saunter out late. He ruffled Akane’s hair when she yawned in a way that died off in a squeak, and he flicked Light’s ear, who grunted.

They all woke up and sat down for another meeting about what to do about the missing Nonary Game children, Bluebird investments, and the Kurashikis personal project: the fanatic.

The morning dragged into afternoon and they broke for lunch. The new normal, Aoi resigned himself, would take longer to get used to. He couldn’t rush.

**

Clover elbowed Junpei out of his place on the couch and he grumbled. She won her prize and smiled as he gave up fighting her. Clover knew she’d always win over Junpei.

“What are we gonna do?” she said. Everyone else was out; she wasn’t sure what drew her brother to Aoi but they were out somewhere mysteriously. Akane had texted her a picture of a dress she thought would look nice on Clover. She and Junpei visited Seven once a week at Lotus’ place, but Seven wanted space aside from that.

“You wanna do anything?” Junpei asked.

Clover sprawled out, nudging him further away with her foot. “Nah.”

Junpei put his feet up on the table. “Me either.”

They did their best slug imitations as they watched movies and she finally got restless enough to say, “Junpei. I need a favor.”

“A—sure, what?”

“I want you to help me find Alice.”

He held up his fist and she bumped it. “I have just the girl, she used to be a secret agent and everything.”

“I bet she kicks ass.”

“She does,” he said warmly, “She does.”

**

“But why?” Akane licked cinnamon sugar off her fingertip and Aoi wanted to chide her about manners. She was so excited for soft pretzels he couldn’t deny her; it was cute. Malls were fascinating to him as a kid but back then they couldn’t afford shopping for fun so he’d always told Akane he hated them. Light found Akane cute despite himself, a fact she used endlessly when she wanted a sweet. Really, too adorable and Aoi would endorse stealing Light’s food. 

“I explained myself already,” Light said.

“Does the end of the world care whether you felt good or not?” Aoi interjected.

Akane leaned back as if settling in to watch the drama. She didn’t encourage them to argue but she didn’t interrupt either.

Light sniffed. “I’m not a child, don’t speak to me like one.”

“Don’t act like one. Why don’t you want to just—”

“Save the entire world, yes, that’s safe—”

“Because everything else was so safe. Did you complain this much as an agent?”

“Gentlemen,” Akane said with her mouth partly full of pretzels and she waved Aoi off when he did say something about her manners. “This is a waste of time. Light,” she said sweetly, “please reconsider staying to hunt the fanatic once we find the First Nonary Game players.”

Light leaned back in his chair and didn’t say anything. Aoi got up and left the mall in frustration.

**

“Shit,” Aoi breathed as Light moved underneath him. They were naked in the dark, but Aoi was distracted and had to interrupt the moment. “Stop moving,” he said and lifted himself off as the position hurt and he was sitting on Light’s bony body. “Are we still pissed off at each other?” Aoi said.

“This can’t wait?” Light grabbed his hips but Aoi pushed him off gently. Frustrated, Light tugged on him hard enough to roll them over but apologetically rolled off when Aoi refused again. “Sorry.” 

They were both selfish in bed which took more negotiating than Aoi was used to; he usually went for people who were dominant but not domineering like this. Tension also killed his erection which was annoying on top of all this. He let Light brush his shoulder to say he wasn’t really mad. Just annoyed. It was impossible for Aoi to fuck someone he’d fought with earlier that day. Aoi was getting all domestic and weak. 

“I mean it.”

Light said, “No. I do wish you would drop it. I don’t want to help you find your fanatic.”

Sounded about right. Aoi didn’t want to worry about it but in the back of his mind was the constant question of what exactly were they and why did he care? He put one arm under his head and crooked one knee; his lower stomach still felt tight and warm from unfulfilled arousal and he debated just shelving the discussion and fucking now. 

“I won’t, get used to it,” he said, not unkindly. 

He got up and cleaned off sweat and lube and felt sore and strained, stretching his arms above his head and (subtly) sucking in his stomach despite the other’s impairment. Aoi was still wiry but the past few months of recovery had made him a bit soft (as his sister confirmed when he floated it, looking for validation). He sat on the edge of the bed and then impulsively leaned over and kissed Light despite himself. He didn’t have anything to argue about and maybe it was pointless to try; it was, or would have to be, enough to accept that Light was staying in their orbit of his own volition. 

“It’s whatever,” Aoi said.

It described the entire situation. They started having sex to scratch an itch on impulse one night basically mid-argument, biting and clawing on the floor when no one else was home. Aoi’d been with people before who misinterpreted him coming back as him being interested in something more and despite the bedsharing, Light didn’t.

“I think she hates me for this,” Light mumbled.

“Nice topic change.”

“Quiet.” 

“She doesn’t hate you. She might hate this but she could never hate you.” Wasn’t it Clover’s idea? “I think Akane’s even starting to grow on her.”

“Don’t exaggerate.”

“I had to try.” He crossed his legs underneath himself, feeling the bed sink slightly under him. “You’re being a sadsack. She’ll forgive you sooner than Akane will me.”

“You—”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “She’s mad. It’s okay, I’ll live. So will you.” And Akane would someday. She was graceful but only Aoi could see that she was still angry about Aoi dissolving Crash Keys to form Bluebird. Junpei pitifully vouched for Aoi once and then immediately hopped back onto Akane’s side when she made him sleep on the couch. Coward. 

Aoi was madder at himself than Akane could ever be, but he didn’t feel sorry for himself. He leaned over, to forget, and zeroed in on Light’s ears, which he liked. They had tired but intimate sex and Aoi felt weird when it was over but didn’t hate it. 

“‘Night,” he murmured and lay down next to Light.

**

Junpei and Clover met Phi at a restaurant that served bad food and cheap beer. Phi looked good; she’d taken a little sabbatical shortly after Junpei returned to work, thus disappearing off his radar. It was honestly impressive how she could do that. She looked better rested now and like she was eating; he wasn’t sure what had been bothering her but apparently she felt lighter now. She and Clover still seemed friendly and they chatted amiably as Junpei ordered for the table.

Phi lapped at the head of her beer before speaking. “What do you need?” Not ‘want.’ She was very careful with her words even when she was trying to hurt someone’s feelings. She hadn’t asked about Baltimore beyond the basic details, as if sensing Junpei’s frantic energy after the fiasco; he appreciated that about his entire team.

“Do you remember Alice?” Clover said.

“I think we had a little run-in but I wouldn’t remember, sorry,” Phi said with a hint of teasing. “Yeah. What about her?” She plucked at her bracelet; it looked like something not her style, like a gift someone had given her moreso because it looked pretty or expensive than she would like it, but she was still wearing it.

Clover explained the basics and didn’t let Junpei talk. He picked at cooling chicken wings and felt largely useless until Phi looked at him.

“You need me to find her?” Phi had a unique skillset and she’d channeled it not into the sciences like he expected but spying and finding missing people, a role surprisingly difficult to fill within Investigation. He had a lot of amateur criminal investigators and a whole one forensics person on his team back when Crash Keys was a thing, and now he had Phi and two people whose loyalties to the Kurashikis were so personal they were willing to work for a fraction of their pay and minimal expense reimbursement (and God did he and Aoi fight about that one; Light took Junpei’s side possibly to annoy Aoi). “Sure. I have business with SOIS anyway.”

“Like what?”

“They wanna recruit Sigma and his stupid ass is actually considering it.”

“What?!” Crash Keys had had to fire him, but Jesus, Junpei hadn’t expected that reaction.

“Exactly what I told him. Apparently Alice told them about his memory trick and our names were already on their radar after our road trip. So…” She shrugged. “I’m working on him, but I have a better idea. Why don’t I go undercover and find Alice?”

Junpei could think of twelve objections but he settled on three:

SOIS could kill her.

They must know by now she was working with Bluebird.

What could she hope to learn by—

He asked Phi her reasoning and protested but she persisted, and Clover joined in and steamrolled him. They started making plans without his input like he wasn’t even there.

Junpei rubbed his temples and listened to them talk, Phi determined to do this her own way. He should’ve begged the more obedient employees to stay instead, no matter how useful.

They decided that Phi would leave to retrieve Alice and that would be that. She’d reconvene when she’d found her and keep her safe until Crash—Bluebird could intercept. Clover felt it was a fair enough solution, though it was clear she wanted to go too.

“We can do this,” Clover swore.

Looking at her face, Junpei was inclined to believe her.

**

Aoi was still deciding if this was a good night or a bad one. He was in an old bar, anonymous and ignored save his companion Light, and hoping that vodka rocks would appease his bad mood. He could call it a date, though it was more two people blowing off a passenger ship’s worth of steam. When Light shut up he was pretty good about that, plus he was a funny drunk. 

Light was currently folding and rolling a fourth bar napkin into a flower shape; he’d taught Clover the same trick which she used to use at her old cocktail waitressing gigs, but Clover had left that behind in favor of running alongside them an S-corp fraught with issues.

The books that wouldn’t balance had brought Aoi to this bar; he was also still vaguely annoyed with said companion for blowing off his concerns, but he also needed a break from Junpei’s more raucous brand of drunkenness and Clover was pissed off at Aoi for something frankly stupid. He couldn’t control what _Akane_ did, plus she was not, as Clover assumed, trying to annoy her personally with her every breath. Only some breaths.

Nights like this Aoi knew he must have been desperate beyond desperate to think this was a feasible long-term plan for the future of Bluebird, nee Crash Keys.

“I’m bored,” Light slurred, tracing the rim of his wine glass. An empty shot of gin perched beside it. Despite his lightweight status he was determined to pose as someone who could hold liquor.

“So I’ve been told.” They hadn’t spoken much. Camaraderie had brought with it a certain humbling, a feeling Aoi was still perplexed by. Sometimes he felt he knew Light better now and others he didn’t know him a bit. Aoi checked his phone and saw a few emails he had no desire to answer. A small blessing: his hands no longer burned right then; the implants were removed but some effects remained. Akane told him not to worry, they would fix it. Someday.

Last call approached and he felt like he’d barely accomplished a thing. Looking over he noticed Light listening to his text-to-speech on his phone. Clover’s something.

Getting up, Aoi’s hand slipped on something he’d failed to notice: an envelope by his elbow. A small manila, weighted but not too heavy, no labels. Inside was a Braille letter which he handed over to Light and photos. Old invasive operating table photos, from when they’d had the implants put in in Baltimore. Aoi put them facedown immediately, feeling cold. He didn’t wanna see himself that way. Hard enough to know it had happened. His hair grew back and the glue from the stitches had come off and a cardiologist had recently given him a clean bill of health after the strychnine incident but the tiny stamp on his brain remained. After the First Nonary Game he tried to become inviolable and worked hard for it but now that was gone. Light understood but for reasons obvious they didn’t feel the need to discuss it. 

“Read it,” Aoi ordered.

Light did.

**

Akane cracked open her drink; it sounded bubbly and smelled sweet. She’d invited Light to a cafe for a break from his studies on how to write the most convincing proposal. He considered himself eloquent and charismatic but even knowing who she’d been he was finding himself impressed and charmed by Akane. She could speak to anyone with poise even if she made strange tangents.

Clover was not a fan of _him_ being a fan. They disagreed often lately. He’d told her he would never choose anyone over her but despite her own peace with Akane she couldn’t move past the girl befriending him. Was he her friend?

“Light,” Akane interrupted his thoughts. “Thank you for coming. I really do like spending time with you.”

“Thank you.” He stirred his drink, not very thirsty. “What do you need from me?”

Akane made an amused noise. “Why does everyone assume I want something from them?” Her tone conveyed she knew exactly why and moreover found it amusing. This was the part of her he was most uncomfortable with. She reminded him of Aoi like this, though Aoi was more open and less patient. She could be a very sweet girl—when she needed to be. The Kurashikis complemented each other.

“You’re not the social calls type.”

“My brother is,” she teased. “But you know that.”

“What?”

“Hm?”

There it was, there was the resemblance to Aoi. 

She continued, “I need a spy.”

“...Go on.”

**

Clover was forced to admit that she missed being a spy. Working on the ‘Save Alice’ plan reminded her that she’d, on some level, enjoyed sneaking around, planning, having her opinion matter on big picture items. Junpei wasn’t Alice but he looked to her still and was good company. They had spent all afternoon coming up with a proposal to spend their limited money on retrieving Alice wherever she was. It turned out a coworker had owed Alice a hell of a favor and helped her escape but where she’d gone to, Clover didn’t know.

Phi had said she’d figure it out and Clover hoped that that was true. Phi left early that morning to take care of ‘something;’ judging by Junpei’s reaction she was like that all the time and the two bickered in a friendly way before she left.

“What happened to your big guy?” Phi had asked when he told her to stay, and Junpei had just frowned.

Seven was a part of their work on paper, and he was out of the wheelchair and had most of his organs intact, but still spent most of his time with Lotus and dodging work calls. Clover could only chalk it up to feeling his injuries, or feeling hesitant about coming back, but she didn’t get why. He was Seven; he could do anything. And to be honest she missed the oaf.

“It’s not your fault,” Akane had tried once and Junpei scoffed and didn’t respond.

Junpei shuffled the papers they’d been freewriting on. “I think we can do this.” They’d come up with a tight but workable budget for Phi’s quest, an argument for why Alice could be essential to the hunt for the remaining First Nonary Game participants, and attempts at answering what Junpei assured her would be Aoi’s objections. 

Clover missed government funding; she used to be able to expense her lunch without an eyebrow raised and a dry comment. Her brother was on her side about that one, at least. She and Light weren’t ‘not talking,’ but at the same time they didn’t talk about anything of substance—Mom, their work, their purpose here. Working with the Kurashikis had been Clover’s idea but the abstract had been very different from the reality of being on top of each other in the house, arguing for every tiny expense, and being in close proximity to the Kurashikis. (For the record, she didn’t understand his fascination with Aoi at all.) Junpei seemed tense and itchy all the time, Aoi high-strung, and Akane sighed a lot. They were depressing.

Her brother had shut her out, and she couldn’t get him to believe that she didn’t blame him for Baltimore. _None_ of that was his fault, and he was suffering enough with the loss of their power and what she was sure were still nightmares. He claimed he didn’t dream but why else was he awake at 2am, distracting himself by re-listening to his compositions and practice sessions.

She wanted him back. She didn’t know how to find him.

She and Junpei held a formal meeting with the other three to plead their case; Light was of course on her side, Akane neutral but acknowledged she could see the point of their arguments, and Junpei and Aoi went back and forth for awhile, debating revisions and the necessity of Alice to their plans.

“It’s enough that she’s my friend,” Clover blurted out. “She was smart enough to collect that data for months, and it saved you,” she pointed out. “Why can’t we help her?”

Aoi played with his pen, so Akane looked askance at him and said, “Can you promise you’ll get results?”

“Yes!”

“Then I vote ‘Yes.’”

Aoi gave her a withering look, but knowing he was outvoted he had no choice but to give a provisional yes provided he could look through the budget one more time and make tweaks as necessary.

Clover felt accomplished though she knew the real trouble was just beginning.

**

“Hold on,” Aoi said, putting his pencil down to rub his hands again. The tingling pain had returned and he wanted to cuss his own hands out.

Akane didn’t ask because she knew not to. Instead she started to doodle circles within circles in her notebook. She must’ve been happy for the break on their work trying to predict the stock market. She now bore the full brunt of it and he knew it could make her tired. The work was tedious and blurry; she didn’t see the whole picture as clear as day, it came in flashes so sometimes she wasn’t sure if something was a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No.’ In addition, they had to be judicious about where they invested their remaining funds and it was hard to weigh the options when he couldn’t predict the exact rate of return; part of him had just been good at it with experience.

Aoi always preferred to do his stocks work analog, which Akane always complained about back when it was her responsibility to transcribe his work. Well, now they were back to that as he’d had to fire his PA. Akane wasn’t complaining anymore. Not when they needed the money.

It reminded him of when they first started, only the work was more bitter because he could remember having everything at his fingertips.

“Let’s take a break,” Akane yawned. It was pushing 1am. Everyone else had gone to bed but he couldn’t sleep because he had to work, it was a never-ending race to catch up to where they’d been.

Aoi’s chest grew tighter at the thought, and he touched the center of it, holding his breath and flexing his toes to make sure they still obeyed his whims. He could remember the moment in the hospital his heart should’ve stopped, all the lights and faces and hands on him, and whenever he felt near that again he couldn’t breathe.

Akane got herself a glass of water and raised an eyebrow when Aoi asked where his was. She must’ve seen something on his face, for she set the glass down before him and put her hand on his head. “Go to bed.”

He wanted to argue but her look said she wouldn’t hear it. He got up, and before he left rested his chin atop her head; she leaned in and pressed her face to his neck like a cat. They held there for a moment before going their separate ways.

When he went back to bed he had to nudge Light out of the way, lay down, and stare at the ceiling for what felt like hours. 

**

Light could tell Clover was distracted, it was obvious in the way she answered in half-sentences and barely related words. Akane was taking everything in stride of course; she’d asked to join them on their walk, something to do after ages of being inside for work. Bluebird and SOIS weren’t so different after all.

Since Akane explained she needed to send him to spy on a competitor, she had been friendlier. Clover had said she’d support him if she could be involved, so Akane was drilling them on what they’d need to know, who they were at the coming business meeting, and what they could reveal in order to maintain trust. They were meeting with one company to discuss a deal for supplies for their money laundering operation.

Crash Keys had its share of rivals back in the day, and hearing it had been downsized to Bluebird had brought the vultures circling. Selling it wasn’t on the Kurashiki’s minds, and for now the Fields agreed they were better off on their own. Becoming a subsidiary would mean someone else determined their priorities, and Bluebird was concerned with their own goals.

“Are you ready?” Akane asked them. Light felt her stop beside them so he did in turn. Around them was the sound of people enjoying themselves in the park, the smell of grass being cut.

“As we can be,” Clover murmured. “Go to a meeting, act like bigwigs, meet up with your guy. Big deal.”

“We’re invested in this as well,” he said, “We won’t fail.”

“Thank you,” Akane said. “It’s because of you this is all possible. Bluebird is better off because you’re here.”

“You’re welcome,” Clover said, sounding unconvinced. He nudged her shoulder and she pushed his hand away. “You don’t have to lay it on thick.”

“I’m not.”

The rest of the walk was about as fun as that conversation. He didn’t get to have the talk he wanted to with his sister, half pep talk and half lecture about trying to be friendlier. Clover always argued she was being friendly because she didn’t talk back as much, and she’d point out the Go competition. That bit was cute, he admitted.

Once they arrived home, Akane stopped him in the entryway. Clover went on ahead and he heard her greet Junpei in the living room. 

“If you need anything…”

“We’re fine.” A Kurashiki was not one to be in debt to, not anymore.

“I’m sure.” Akane sidled past him and joined Clover and Junpei. 

He stood in the entryway for several more moments, wondering what they were all doing in this dance, not bumping into one another but just barely. Junpei was the only one who seemed fine lately. He didn’t see Seven enough to know his thoughts, but Seven had always been a neutral party, considering all the ‘children’ his own and seeing it as his responsibility to protect them.

“Yo, what are you doing hiding here?” Aoi said amiably.

“Mm, debating how to steal your portfolio.”

“If you can find my riches, let me know,” Aoi quipped back, before approaching him. “Everything cool?” 

“I think so,” he lied.

**

Junpei wondered if kneeling and putting his forehead to the ground would help convince Seven to open the front door. He’d made an impromptu trip to Lotus’ and found himself knocking only to be shut out. 

“Seven! I’m not afraid of making a scene.” He hoped he wouldn’t have to make good on that threat. 

He heard a lumbering sound and then the door opened, Seven looming on the other side of it. His bulk was restrained these days, having lost weight and muscle during recovery, but Junpei still wouldn’t want to risk trying to push past him. “Let’s do this,” Seven said, sounding tired.

Lotus kept a really clean house for someone who couldn’t cook. The furniture had been pushed around somewhat, probably to make room for Seven, and the carpet had vacuum lines. He couldn’t picture Seven as a homemaker, though it would’ve been an amusing mental image.

Seven offered him a cup of tea from a warm pot on the stove; Junpei accepted it and admired the fragrant oolong. It reminded him of the lonely time before they infiltrated Free the Soul HQ, with Seven magically making instant coffee taste good with sugar packets and hot water. 

Seven sat down heavily on a sofa sagging under his weight; Junpei stood.

“You have to come back,” Junpei said, figuring why not jump in with both feet. “We need your help.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t.”

Junpei sipped on his tea and scalded the tip of his tongue. “How much more time could you need? Besides, Akane misses you.”

“I can’t join you in the field.”

“You don’t have to, there’s plenty you could do at the office.”

“Maybe I’m fine here, Junpei,” he said sharply.

“Maybe you’re hiding,” he shot back. “I don’t blame you. What happened on The Defiant was terrible. But you’ve been through so much worse.” Aoi almost died too, he wanted to point out. Junpei admitted he hadn’t been there for the finer points of Seven’s recovery, but that was because he _couldn’t_ be—Seven had pushed him away first. Junpei thought of months of messages sporadically answered and declined offers to visit.

“You don’t get it,” Seven said. “You got put back together in an afternoon and I could barely walk for months. I can’t help you.”

“Yes you can! You can because you’re Seven.” Junpei sighed, “And you don’t quit.” What the hell happened to make him so afraid? He was bunking with Lotus which should’ve scared anyone straight enough.

“Do you think I want to?” he said.

Outside a car door slammed and a few moments later Lotus came in, juggling a few plastic shopping bags and saying something without looking up from her phone. When she saw Junpei her face was carefully neutral before she said, “Go home, Junpei.” She didn’t need to hear a word of their conversation to know what it was about.

Junpei knew better than to argue with her. With a last look at Seven he said, “The least you could do is write your chapter faster,” and then he left. He swore the Detective Brothers would ride again someday, in reality or at least in fiction.

**

Their last meeting before going their separate ways was informal; they gathered in the living room, Akane and Clover at their Go board, Junpei and Aoi and Light crammed onto the couch, Phi standing with her arms folded as if wondering how long this would take.

“So, Phi is going for Alice, we three are headed to a business meeting, Junpei is going to his old agency, and my brother stays here,” Akane said, running her pen down her notes to confirm. “Is everyone ready?”

“As we can be, I guess,” Phi said. She gave a small smile in Akane’s direction. She always looked on Akane fondly, which Clover was starting to see many people did. In a way, Clover was unique, she reasoned, because she still hadn’t fallen for Akane.

Clover moved a piece on the Go board; Akane watched it before considering the board closer than her notes. Aoi snapped his fingers to get her attention back.

“Everyone be careful,” he said. Clover wondered why he wasn’t coming with them; Akane didn’t address it directly and he wasn’t forthcoming about why. This felt like a dry run for a larger paradigm shift in their operations.

“Hey,” Phi said when they were done and people had gone their separate ways for the night. “How’s it going?” 

“Fine,” Clover said cautiously. She’d liked Phi the few times they’d met post-Ambidex Game, but they worked in different spheres until now so that wasn’t often. She hadn’t seen or heard of Sigma since the wedding; they’d danced together briefly before he stole Diana away from that blonde guy Junpei and Akane were friends with.

“If you need anything…” Phi lifted a shoulder. “Give me a call. I know she’s important to you.”

“Why are you doing this for me?”

“Because it’s you. And Alice didn’t do anything wrong by me.”

Clover decided that would have to be an acceptable answer, so she nodded and went to bed. Her bedroom was lonely now and she’d cluttered it with clothes on every surface and it still wasn’t enough. She heard her brother and Aoi talking from down the hallway and lay back on her bed, sighing.

What made him so special?

A knock came on her door and when she said, “Come in,” it was Junpei arriving. He looked tired and distracted, moreso than he’d been when he first arrived home. So Seven hadn’t gone well. 

She tested the waters, “How’s Seven?”

“Still sulking,” he said bitterly.

“I think he’s allowed to.”

“But we… I’ve tried everything. He wouldn’t have to be in danger anymore.” Junpei needed someone to talk to; Akane must have been busy. “I don’t get it.”

Clover kicked her feet. “Try.”

“It’s not Investigation without him,” Junpei said quietly. The message was: ‘I can’t do this without him.’

“It’ll be fine. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”

“When you do,” he muttered. “What’s so bad about this?”

“We all live together because we can’t afford anything else, and we’re poor.”

“Point.”

“We have almost no friends—”

“Okay, Clover, I get it.”

“Good.” She took pity on him: “He’ll be fine, Junpei.” She didn’t promise he’d come around or that all would be fantastic. For now it was fine and in the past year, or maybe her whole lifetime, she’d had to learn to be okay with the fact that most of the time, things were only ‘fine.’ It felt like giving up or growing up, she wasn’t sure which yet.

Junpei looked at her and said, “It’s fine, Clover.” He went to bed and she stared at the ceiling.

The following morning, she packed up the car with Akane and they set out on their journey together.

**

Aoi poured himself a drink as soon as the house cleared out. He sat down at his laptop and tried to work for a while, then leaned back in his seat and rubbed his neck. His fingers brushed over the small scar on the back of his neck where the implant had been. He frowned. It was a reminder of everything that had happened. It was the reason he was lost and tired all the time.

He’d stayed behind because of that; he had this malaise he couldn’t shake and his head was foggy and unfocused. He’d suggested to Akane she take the Fields with her as their spy history would help, he hoped. Junpei, he’d told to go to his old agency seeking their aid in finding Alice since they were all down Seven.

He cracked his knuckles, feeling his hands burning again. He had his own work to do but he didn’t want to do it. The alcohol was fading his mind and he slept for a while, waking up at twilight and getting back to his laptop. He looked through the records of Baltimore from the debrief; the pictures, the writeup, and now the letter a stranger had left them at the bar. He couldn’t read it, but from what Light read it indicated that someone who knew about Baltimore was still watching them. Aoi didn’t even know where to begin with that, so he put it on the (crowded) back burner. 

Everything he looked at had unpleasant memories and somatosensation. Cold hands, sharp pinching of IVs and scalpels, headaches, and the taste of poisoned wine. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He wondered when he would stop doing this to himself.

Then he forced himself to work. He had to try, for himself and for everyone who hadn’t been given a chance.


	2. Chapter 2

Returning to Junpei’s old detective agency was awkward to say the least. Junpei shifted on his feet in the doorway, aware that the old timers were staring at him, and the newbies were judging based on the old timers’ reactions. When he joined Crash Keys, he’d left suddenly with barely a goodbye, and people looked at him with raised eyebrows and confused expressions.

His old boss welcomed him into his office anyway. His office was a pastiche of every interest he’d ever had; Junpei recognized a poster of a soccer player they both liked, the only thing they ever had in common, not that Junpei was making much water cooler talk back then.

“Junpei,” he said in a doubting tone. They’d never been big fans of each other, with Junpei being as friendly as a feral cat during his time there. At least Junpei had brought a sufficient bribe this time; it was part of the Alice Rescue plan. “What can you do for me?” 

Junpei gave him the slip of paper that had the figure Bluebird was prepared to give him on it, and suddenly they were friends. 

“I’m looking for a woman,” Junpei said.

Boss crossed his arms and with great skepticism said, “Still?”

“A different woman this time!”

“Alright, alright, calm down. You know I’ll do what I can for you. I did back then.” Their memories of that time were very different. No wonder Junpei’d preferred Seven’s help in going after Free the Soul.

Junpei gave him a photo of Alice and the dossier he’d managed to assemble, then outlined what he needed them to do—research where Alice had departed to from Los Angeles and where she might be now by tracking any cameras, cell phone calls, and credit card transactions they could find—and they agreed with a firm handshake.

“You know, someone’s been looking for you,” Boss said.

“Huh?”

“Some other woman, asking if we’d seen you. I told her you’re too busy for us, and she seemed pissed off. Said she met you in Baltimore. When did you go there?”

Junpei was suddenly cold. “It was last year,” he admitted. He had a flash of pain in his ankle. “What did they look like?”

Boss’ description was painfully bland: a brown-haired woman who could be anyone from the group that had captured them back in Baltimore and nearly killed them all. 

Junpei took a step backwards as if to distance himself from the whole situation. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Piss someone off, Junpei?”

“Something like that.” He raised his hand in a half-hearted wave and departed. He ignored the continued stares on his way out the door. He had more important things to worry about. If someone had found Aoi and Light and given them that envelope, someone knew how to find them. If this other woman didn’t know, that meant multiple people were looking for them, and they weren’t collaborating with each other. That didn’t comfort him.

On the drive home, Junpei dialed a number, put his phone on speaker, and greeted the person he called with, “You awake?”

“Well now I am,” Seven grumbled. “What’s up?”

“I really need your help.” Something in Junpei’s voice troubled himself; he sounded desperate, uncertain, and downright needy. “Someone else from Baltimore is following us. You and Lotus might be in danger, we might be in danger—”

“Junpei. Calm down, tell me what you need from me.”

“I don’t know,” Junpei sighed. “I just need you.”

“You got me, you know that.”

It sure didn’t feel like it, Junpei wanted to say. “I’m coming over.”

“The door will be open.”

“Thanks.” Junpei hoped he was finding the old Seven again.

“Cheer up, I’ve got good news too: Lotus thinks she found the kids.”

**

“Unless you’re willing to sell Bluebird, the answer is no,” the businessman sitting across from Light, Clover, and Akane said.

Light bit the inside of his cheek. He had done all the steps in this dance, divulged information when it was relevant, presented as his best self, and still he’d failed. The other business wasn’t going to give them capital to support their laundering.

Akane pushed, drawing on their old shared history, and the man refused again saying Bluebird was simply too small (leaving unsaid that he really meant ‘insignificant’) to justify supporting them. He said to call him when they could demonstrate steady, organic growth.

Akane couldn’t help the testy noise that came from behind her lips and then said, “Of course. Thank you for your time.”

“Why?” Clover interrupted. “Why shouldn’t you take a chance on us? The Kurashikis are awesome at what they do. You’ll get all of your money back and more.”

Light went to put a hand on her but Clover rebuffed him. He heard a chair scoot across the floor and someone’s hands hit the desk before them.

“Just like you have a job to protect your investments, I have a responsibility to protect my own. Young lady, threatening me will not get you what you want.”

“You haven’t _seen_ threatening, old man!”

“Clover,” Akane said with a tone like she was struggling to hold on to her control. “Let’s go.”

On their way out Clover hissed, “Coward,” at Akane.

Light felt there might’ve been two cowards in the room. He should’ve pushed harder, been better, and then they would’ve been successful. At least he’d done his part by stealing a flash drive from the man’s desk when the man had gotten up to tell his secretary to fetch them coffee. When he came back into the room, Light had pretended that his blindness greatly impaired him and he couldn’t help bumping into the desk. Akane had mentioned the drive to him, sitting out in the open, and they cooperated well.

“Did you finish your coffee?” Akane asked and it took him a moment to understand what she meant.

“Yes,” he said, waving his hand over his thigh to indicate his pocket held the drive.

In the lobby, Clover kicked over a potted plant (he knew because she told him right after) and Light just rubbed his temples. One could never stop Clover from doing what she wanted to do.

On the drive, Akane said, “Clover, I understand you’re upset—”

“Why aren’t you upset,” Clover mumbled, and Light could picture her slumping in her seat, arms crossed.

“But you can’t function in this world if you lose your temper every time you hear ‘No.’ It’s not going to be our first time. And besides, I think today went well.”

“You do?” Light said.

“You two were wonderful partners. I’m glad I can count on you, and now we likely have information about their operation we can use for leverage later.” Akane hummed to herself. “We’ll be successful again someday. We survived Baltimore, after all.”

‘Define survive,’ Light wanted to say, but he didn’t. Nobody slept anymore and he himself had nightmares he didn’t tell anyone about. 

He leaned back against his seat and wished for a cigarette.

**

Returning home was eventful. The trio were clearly in a bad mood; Aoi was pensive and not talking much despite giving Akane a hug; and Junpei, who came in last, was more energetic, frenetic. He said Seven was back on the case and he had bigger news for them, though at that announcement he was more subdued.

Clover appreciated him. He said he’d gotten the agency’s agreement to help find Alice. He was good, or the money was good maybe. Speaking of money, her group failed to get any at all. She couldn’t blame anyone; she just realized the tricks were harder to pull off than she thought they would be and maybe subterfuge was her best trick of all. A cleaner’s outfit wouldn’t help this time, she thought.

They sat down to eat dinner like a dysfunctional family.

Junpei, almost buzzing with energy, said, “I have a break.”

“With Alice?”

“No, with the First Nonary Game. Lotus thinks she found them.” Junpei played with the remainder of his food. “But I have bad news too: somebody else from Baltimore is looking for us. Not the person who left the envelope with you two,” he said, gesturing to Aoi and Light.

Aoi furrowed his brow. “So we deal with it.”

Clover stood up suddenly, her head spinning at the news, and said, “I’m going to lay down. Junpei, wake me up when you’ve decided what to do.”

Light looked at her like he wanted to say something, lips parting, but she didn’t stop to listen. She made her way back to her room with shaky steps.

Clover lay down on her bed, got out her phone, and looked at the picture she had of herself and Alice as her background. Fortunately she’d stored all of their photos together in the cloud, because her luck with cell phones had been atrocious in the past ten months.

In the photo, Alice was squeezing Clover to her so their cheeks were pressed together, lips pursed and making silly faces. Alice’s eyeliner was perfect, like her. Clover felt herself tearing up but willed herself to stop it because crying wouldn’t change anything. It didn’t change her situation when she was kidnapped or held hostage or her brother was. It didn’t help when she woke up in the middle of the night, remembering Hongou bleeding out and how it was Clover who helped kill him. He lost too much blood too quickly for it to be all the strychnine’s fault.

When she slept, she had another nightmare about it and woke up gasping. Her room was pitch black and her phone said it was 2am.

She got up, ghosted across the hallway, and knocked on her brother and Aoi’s door. Light answered, and she threw herself into his arms.

**

This time, Seven and Lotus had no choice but to let them in. Aoi looked around their place and noted it looked like a couple lived there now. Good for them. Lotus’ daughters had moved out only recently, and he remembered Lotus complaining about how they called her at all hours with various self-induced emergencies because they didn’t know how to cook or clean yet. Aoi had asked her whose fault was that and she’d thumped him.

“So,” Lotus said, “We think we have a lead. Yours truly,” she was of course very complimentary to herself, “managed to break into SOIS’ system and find they recently used a ‘surprise’ budget surplus to relocate a large amount of equipment and other assets to a place in the Nevada desert.”

The entire room groaned, not big fans of Nevada anymore.

Seven added, “Some of it was basic living supplies—food, beds, clothing. Everything you’d need to support, say, a small group of people in isolation.”

Aoi stroked his chin. “You’re brilliant, I could kiss you, Lotus.”

“And you won’t,” Seven interjected; Lotus laughed and sounded like clear bells. Now that they were getting along they were a little cute and a little disgusting all at once, Aoi thought.

Akane chuckled into her hand. “Thank you, Kashiwabara. You _are_ brilliant.”

“Don’t tell her that,” Seven said, jokingly.

“So are we going in?” Junpei asked before shaking his head. “Of course we are.”

“With what money?” Aoi said bitterly. “I need more time.”

“We might not have that,” Junpei protested. “We saved _you_ with nobody but ourselves.”

“And the authorities,” Aoi pointed out, wanting to snipe back that Junpei had been unconscious during the peak of the action.

“What about Alice? When are we going to help her?” Clover said.

“We still will,” Light said, comforting her with a hand on her shoulder. “If we have to divide our efforts it’s not the end of the world.”

“Right, we can split up if we have to,” Aoi theorized, “Though right now we need to focus on capital and time.”

“We’ve gotta have a time limit of some kind,” Junpei said.

“But what?” Akane said.

“How easily they forget about me,” Lotus said, putting a hand to her head in mock exasperation. “I know that. The espers are scheduled to be moved again within two months to a different base. I think they’re paranoid after Baltimore and how many Hongou managed to kill via incompetence.”

“There are only six of them left,” Aoi said.

“If we do nothing, they’ll slip out of our grasp forever,” Light added. He shifted on his feet. “I say we focus. I want to be a part of the retrieval efforts.”

“Naturally,” Aoi said, nodding to him. “Let’s divide, shall we?”

They agreed to split along the following lines: Junpei and Seven would investigate who was tailing them about Baltimore; Clover would remain in contact with Phi about the Alice quest and with the rest of her time would support Light in his business operations; and the Kurashikis would throw themselves into finding the First Nonary Game players. Lotus, though not eager to lay down with Bluebird except as a favor to Seven, would support them with her computer skills however she could.

Aoi clapped his hands once and got everyone’s attention. “Go team?” he said.

“Go team,” Clover said, giving him a tiny if reluctant smile.

**

Junpei and Seven reviewed camera footage from the bar Aoi and Light went to that night, and didn’t find anything of note. They could only see the entrances, a sliver of the bar area, and the front hall. Nobody stood out and they couldn’t see their table.

That off the table, they asked an independent lab about submitting the physical evidence for forensic testing, and learned they would have to wait as the lab had a backlog. Seven said he would find another ASAP.

They then went through interviews via phone with everyone they could think of at the agency, but everyone only remembered a nondescript woman, only unique because she was asking about Junpei.

Junpei sat back and ran his hands through his hair, feeling sweaty and frustrated.

“Don’t give up,” Seven said, and Junpei smiled at him. That was more like Seven. “I can do that for us,” he joked. He seemed abashed by his earlier self-pitying behavior and didn’t want it mentioned or any encouragement beyond a free beer.

“Yeah, right. We’re just lost, no big deal.”

“What kind of Detective Brothers would we be if we just gave up?”

“I guess you have a point.” Junpei looked over their notes once more. “Do you think they have an SOIS connection? Have Lotus look through their employee files for someone who’s recently taken some time off. Investigating like this takes time.”

“No, no, if this is SOIS they probably have someone specifically assigned to the case.”

“Oh, right.” Junpei rubbed the back of his head. “What about someone working under Hongou?”

“He’s dead, who cares about him? He probably paid everyone for their loyalty.”

“So, let’s say it’s SOIS, what do they want with us? Revenge?”

“Try information. Crash Keys is gone and you guys fired a lot of people when it went down. They’ve probably lost their man on the inside and want to find you to interrogate you for what you know about esper powers.”

“Not bad, old man.”

Seven snorted.

**

Akane and Clover were at their Go board again. It allowed them to talk openly, so they found themselves gravitating towards it when they had something to say. Clover was anxious about what she wanted to say.

“I have an idea about our plan,” Clover suggested. “I love my brother, but… I think maybe you’d be better at helping him,” she said quickly. She didn’t want to say it but she had to. Clover had been a spy but Akane was a master deceiver, and if anyone could help Light build on his skills it would be her.

“Do you think so?” Akane said, contemplative as she looked at the board. She touched one piece, and then another, before moving a third. She was slowly boxing Clover into a metaphorical corner, in Go and in life.

“I know so.” Clover felt sad as she said it, to admit she couldn’t help Light with one thing. Clover had lost her temper after the business meeting and Akane had stayed calm, and she’d helped Light steal some important information in the same movements. “So let’s switch teams. I’ll help your brother and you’ll help mine.”

“Could you ever see us on the same team?” Akane said quietly.

“Weren’t we before?” Clover thought of the ship, their rescue attempt, how Clover had killed to protect everyone and Akane had stood behind her the whole time. She thought of how she’d protected Akane by lying to SOIS, and why she did it at the time. Because Crash Keys had deserved better, after what they’d done to save everyone.

“I guess so,” Akane said, smiling as Clover moved her piece to gain an advantage over Akane.

The two women made their own plans, agreeing to divide up the teams according to what Clover had suggested. (Everyone knew better than to separate Seven and Junpei.) Akane looked forward to working with Light, she said, and though selfish, Clover sorta hoped Light put up some objection to this. She knew they liked to talk about books they read together and she’d listened to his music before, so they liked each other. But Clover had to be liked more.

When they pitched the idea to their brothers, Aoi and Light balked.

“Uh. We kinda do these things together,” Aoi said, gesturing to Akane, and Light nodded.

“Clover, was this really your idea?”

“Yes,” she said, playing with her skirt. “I want to help Aoi when I’m not helping Alice and Phi.”

“If it’s what you want, I’ll acquiesce,” Light said.

Aoi and Akane shared a look, Aoi’s arms crossed, before Aoi sighed and shook his head and that was his only reply.

He’d get over it, Clover thought.

**

“Do you think they’re sick?” Aoi asked Light. The two of them were going over the First Nonary information Seven and Junpei had taken, including their theories, but that had turned into talking about their sisters’ suggestion. 

Light had earbuds in, connected to his text-to-speech program and was also going through the flash drive for information about their old associate’s operations. It turned out their associate had been hiding a decent amount of fraudulent expenses and embezzlement, and his partner wouldn’t be happy to hear about that. 

Aoi was so proud when Light suggested blackmailing him for his cooperation.

Light shook his head. “My sister knows her own mind, and it’s a very intelligent mind. She probably thinks this is the most effective way of accomplishing our goals.”

“Maybe Fields just universally have a thing for me.”

“Haha, don’t be foolish—I would kill you before I let you date her.”

“Why do I think you really would?”

Light laughed. Then he grew more sober. “I think we should tread carefully; everything is so complicated.”

“Say that again,” Aoi said, leaning in and taking his hands. He wouldn’t know where this gentleness, this concern came from but he didn’t mind it. “Don’t worry. We’ve got this.”

“Just like we had Hongou?”

“Hey, that’s not funny. I almost died.”

“But you didn’t,” Light said, growing more serious. He tilted his head and leaned in but didn’t kiss Aoi, though they weren’t far apart. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Me too,” Aoi said softly, looking down at their hands. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and then the other really did kiss him. Aoi brought his hands up to thread through his hair, holding him closer. “What made you so soft?”

“I’m not,” he said.

“Sure.”

They went over the information one more time and then decided to take a break. Returning to the living room they found Clover and Junpei playing a video game, Akane watching them with a bored expression. Akane asked them who was winning and huffed when Junpei said again it wasn’t that kind of game.

Aoi sat down beside Junpei, nudging him again and again so he’d lose his focus and Junpei grunted and nudged him back.

They traded off playing the game, Akane fussing because she wasn’t very good at it and Aoi chiding her to be a good sport, and the evening passed with pleasant mundanity.

**

Junpei played with his phone, delaying calling Phi in case they got more bad news. It felt like that was all they got lately, he thought, and he hoped Phi could make it different.

Clover, hovering over his shoulder, said, “Come on already!” She had pestered him to call Phi all morning or else she’d ‘hit him where it hurt,’ and Junpei rather liked his balls not being in pain.

He punched in Phi’s number and called:

“Hey,” she answered.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, I’m currently in the middle of nowhere because my contact said that was Alice’s last known whereabouts. Little town called Truth or Consequences in New Mexico.”

Junpei vaguely remembered Carlos wanted to take Junpei and Akane on a road trip there, but then they didn’t have time for that. Junpei would’ve liked to; he missed Carlos and thought maybe he’d call him later.

“Great, any clues?”

“Yeah. She was just seen at a local inn before taking off. She asked for directions to a place further into New Mexico, so I’m headed there next. I think the trail is warm.”

“Awesome, thanks Phi. Let me know if you need anything.”

“You have any money?”

Junpei sighed; he’d have to dig into his own savings for this again. “Yeah. I’ll send it to you.” After he hung up, he turned to Clover. “She thinks she’s got a good clue.”

Clover pumped her fists. “Yes. When do you think she’ll find Alice?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s gotta be a good sign.”

Junpei and Clover bumped fists and he felt truly accomplished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I combined the original Chapters 1 and 2 because I realized they worked better as one piece, hence why this is Chapter 2 Mach 2. 
> 
> I'm @junpeidoll at Twitter!


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